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Saving Point Hudson

It's valuable land in a prime location, and there could be a great temptation to sell it to a developer who would raze the historic buildings, build condos, and change the character of this centerpiece of the PNW wooden boat community.

It's a complex issue, involving the local economy, jobs, tourism, and the marine trades.

Here's part of an email that was sent out by the Northwest Maritime Center yesterday:

Thereís no way of getting around the bigness of this news so Iíll just say it: as you read this, the Northwest Maritime Center is working to secure the long-term stewardship and management of Point Hudsonóbirthplace and current home of the Wooden Boat Festival and the 14 acres adjacent to the NWMC. Our intention is to pursue a long-term master lease for the marina, the historic buildings, and the undeveloped landóI said it was big!

Why? The future of Point Hudson is uncertain. It operates in the red, the breakwater is failing and needs $6 million to repair. With low reserves and high debt levels, the Port of Port Townsend is up against a financial wall, and is in the middle of considering a swath of options that runs from not repairing the breakwater and letting it fail, to changing the use of the land to allow for more developmentórelaxing zoning laws, historic protections, etc.

Our goal: We think we have a plan to keep Point Hudson the way it is but better, and to help it realize its potential by making it a better version of itself both financially and programmatically.

The Northwest Maritime Center has established this website to provide information about the process.

I encourage you to get involved, learn about the issues, and provide whatever support that you can.

Re: Saving Point Hudson

Jake Beattie's remarks to last Saturday's Navigator Brunch

Good morning everyone! For those of you I have not yet met, my name is Jake Beattie and for the past six years Iíve had the honor and privilege to serve as the Executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center.

Itís been a good 6 years!

Weíve tripled our programs, doubled our staff, and paid off our mortgages. In all of those successes Iíve had a huge learning curve:

∑ There is a magic box in this building that turns salt water into heat,
∑ simulators- I now know about simulators,

More profoundlyí in my time here Iíve come to marvel at the long history of community inspiration and effort - from that group of hippies sitting around a bottle of wine dreaming of the wooden boat festival all the way to right now Ė in ways Iím still coming to understand there is a power of dreaming big, and how the big ĎWEí of this community, time and time again dreams big, really big, then delivers.

Taking problems, staring at them with enough collective brainpower until we can stand those problems on their head and turn them into opportunity.

∑ This site was an environmentally stained derelict oil depot under development pressure to become condos. Throw enough community support and inspiration at that and you get the kind of public engaging vibrancy you see today.

∑ Our schools were mired in the same sort of problems as schools everywhere- insert the Maritime Discovery Schools that is now in third year of engaging students, teachers, attracted our fabulous new superintendent to apply, and our school bond passed by record margins.

∑ Not enough people were racing to AlaskaÖtotally kidding. Iím not sure what problem the R2AK is solving but itís pretty fun.

Anyway, our community has another one of those actual problems that we all need to solve and that is Point Hudson. The 14 acres of land and marina owned by the Port of Port Townsend are in trouble. Iíll leave it to the folks from the Port to give the exact details, but roughly: buildings are iconic and historic but tired. Add a small marina, and a few RVs and the business model doesnít pencil, add to that the breakwater is failing, fast, and without a path to sustainable the Port is challenged to justify the rest of the $6 million it will take to fix it.

Theyíve accurately framed it as a community problem, and asked the community to lean in on forming a solution.

So in response to that hereís our next big dream: we are pursuing a master lease for the entirety of the Portís Point Hudson campus so that the creative energy of the community can flow though and help the Port stand the problem on its head and turn it into opportunity.

Point Hudson is a huge issue, and right now the Port is forming and weighing alternatives that balance the revenue that comes from Point Hudsonís development with its traditional and current existence. Itís a big decision, but since the Port first came to talk to us last fall about these challenges and what role we might play, until right now we have been vibrating with excitement about what that could mean for our mission, and the vibrancy of our community, and how that community ownership could be fully expressed and realized through a collaboration between the Maritime Center and the Port of Port Townsend.

And itís not just us that got excited about the idea. We talked to people to help us make sure we werenít crazy, and they go excited right along with us- the idea is a little bit contagious.

So what is the vision and what do we see as our role? In a rough metaphor I'd say it's somewhere between a bonsai farmer and a chiropractor: weíre not proposing big changes, let's take care of Point Hudson like it is and like it matters, everyday and over the long term, and let's focus on those incremental changes that can unstick the energy and let it live up the potential we can all see.

I've been using Kate Dean's phrase 'Front Porch', where people who live here and the people who visit all come hang out together. Point Hudson is our community's underutilized front porch. Let's make it vibrant, and hold ourselves accountable to how it ties back to the greater health of our community.

Imagine a Point Hudson under a single curated idea that links the opportunities of our community and extends the vibrancy of our downtown from Pope marine park, through the footprint of the Wooden Boat Festival, out to the point and then on down the beach to Fort Worden.

Imagine the economic impact of not just giving visitors outstanding customer service but actively connecting them to the best parts of who we are.
Welcome to town here are some dining options, if you're interested there's an incredible concert at Centrum...

We just watched you dock, hereís a number for a couple of shipwrights who can fix your boat , we also have a couple of classes that might make the rest of your trip less stressful.

Imagine it pedestrian friendly, imagine it celebrating our full history, present, and future in compelling ways that makes it the destination attraction rather than just the place visitors wonder about at the end of the street.

Imagine it operating in the black without having to change much thanks the synergy that is possible when community organizations and local governments join forces.

Imagine a permanence for our programs and a greater canvas for us to attract larger numbers of kids and the next Wooden Boat Festival, Race to Alaska-sized event to our community.

I often think that at some level my role is to continue to shift the center of maritime gravity to Port Townsend, for the good of our mission, the trades, and the rest of our economy and I am beyond excited about the epicenter we could create if the goals of Point Hudson were aligned with the possibility of our programs.

Imagine looking back ten years from now and marveling at the vibrancy we've created as a community in the same way we can sit here and marvel that the concentrated brilliance of our little town that created this out of a rusty shed and soil saturated with half a century of Standard Oil.

There is a lot to work out, and after months of discussions and consultants and lawyers, in the next few months the Port will be completing their planning and choosing between several versions of our collective future. And with all of your help and enthusiasm weíre going to throw our hat in the ring with a full-throated proposal for a vibrant, community driven, and financially responsible future for one of our communityís signature assets.

I wasn't there at those first gatherings where friends and neighbors looked at each other and committed to pulling off the first wooden boat festival, or to make this Maritime Center rise out of industrial decay, a few of you were, look around, it feels like all of us are a part of the next one.

Letís get fired up, letís secure the fully realized potential of Point Hudson weíve wanted as a community for decades. Letís dream big together again.

Re: Saving Point Hudson

Thank you for posting this, Dave. I received the email from NW Maritime this morning. I had been unaware of the situation. However, it does not surprise me that the infrastructure of the port is lacking. The good news is that there appears to be wide spread community support. I presume most of this is anchored within the city of Port Townsend. Hopefully the whole of the Kitsap peninsula as well as other Puget Sound communities will get onboard. I certainly will be doing so.

Re: Saving Point Hudson

Agreed - thanks! Point Hudson has long been my favorite jumping off point for the San Juans. I would hate to see it developed for another faceless condo block. I will be looking for ways to help out as well.

Re: Saving Point Hudson

So glad to see this posted here! My wife and I are 100% in favor of preserving the original archticture and character of Point Hudson! We have been working with the foundation for over thirty years and would hate to see a bad choice made in respect to what should be done! The entire town of Port Townsend is a historic sea port, one of only four left in the country. The thought of a developer taking over and doing a modern remodel is not what we locals want to see done.
The Bank buildings down town are a prime example of bad planning!
If you would like to see a project that is beeing done right, look at Crystal Cove CA It looks old but is really replication or repair of the original structures.
Jayhttp://www.crystalcovestatepark.org/...oric-district/

Re: Saving Point Hudson

A recent email from NWMC:

Please join NWMC Executive Director Jake Beattie for Coffee and Conversation, with a special focus on Point Hudson. We are hosting these weekly gatherings at 10:00 AM on Thursdays to make sure our community knows exactly where the NWMC stands with regard to seeking a master lease of Point Hudson, and as part of our efforts to work collaboratively with the Port of Port Townsend.